


Maybe, She Just Needs More Time

by zyllarishere



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang is so cute, Aang was worried, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Light Angst, One Shot, Parental Hakoda (Avatar), Sneaky Katara, i don't know what to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27575474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zyllarishere/pseuds/zyllarishere
Summary: Aang couldn't sleep while thinking about a certain blue-eyed girl. Hakoda reassured him.***This takes place right after The Boiling Rock 2, at night.
Relationships: Aang & Hakoda (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	Maybe, She Just Needs More Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all, Zyllar here. 
> 
> This is a rewrite of one of my old fanfictions about Kataang. I posted this on Fanfiction.net back in 2014 with the same title. I don't know if the fandom still actively reads Avatar fanfictions, but I just felt like sharing this again. There may be some grammar mistakes since I'm not a native English speaker, so I'm sorry in advance. Hope you guys enjoy it :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender.

It was quiet at night. The sound of the crackling fire was long gone on the camp, yet you can hear the faintest sound of crickets from afar. Everyone was asleep, except for one. Aang really tried to though, sleep that is, but his mind was running 100 miles away a second. He was thinking of a certain someone, as he always do. His heart beats faster every time he remembers their kiss. It was rushed, a little bit forceful and possibly bumped noses but it was sweet and delicate at the same time. It was different from when the first time they kissed, well if you count the small peck at the cave of two lovers when they were trapped and do it as a hope to get out of there as a kiss. He can actually see her face that time, of course it was broad daylight, and his face becomes hot when he remembered how soft her lips were.

Aang was trying to be brave at the time. He knew he could get rejected, but he thought it couldn’t hurt to try, anything can happen and he was not going to rule out the possibility of him not coming back. Turned out the day of the black sun plan failed. Somehow the Fire Nation knew they were coming and Ozai was nowhere near his residence, and Aang had to wait another day to defeat the Fire Lord. That also meant he had to face Katara with the war still happening. He knew it wasn’t the right time but his heart just couldn’t take it sometimes. He wanted to talk about it with her, unfortunately other priorities came on and again he had to set it aside for the millionth time.

Aang groaned quietly. After the past few minutes he had been rolling around on the ground and he still couldn’t sleep. He finally decided to clear his head. Looking around he quietly approached the edge of the temple to sit down, dangling his feet and kicking it around. It was a clear sky that night, the stars were bright and Aang can feel the gentle wind blowing softly to his face. He sighed, still feeling lost even so calming down a little.

Back at the camp, Chief Hakoda realized he’s not going to get any sleep any time soon. He needed to start thinking about what he was going to do next, now that he was free. As he got up, he could see a figure not far from him sitting on the edge of the temple. Hakoda decided to approach him.

“Trouble sleeping Aang?” Sitting down, he looked to the side to see a solemn expression on the boy.

Aang smiled weakly. “Yeah, sort of.”

“Care to share?” Hakoda offered an encouraging smile, hoping the Avatar will open up to him.

Aang was hesitant. He shouldn’t talk about Katara with her own father right? Should he? Was it a good idea? After a few seconds of silence and a contemplating look on his face, he finally decided to say something.

“It’s about your daughter.” Hakoda raised his eyebrow at that. Aang didn’t know if that was pure curiosity or an act of protectiveness, but he started to panic either way. “N-no! It wasn’t anything bad. I mean, well it was bad, a-at least for me, I mean- ugh, sorry.”

He took a deep breath. “I kissed your daughter.” Aang closed his eyes out of fear and before Hakoda can say anything he continued. “On top of the submarine, before I flew away to face the fire lord. I was afraid I wasn’t coming back so I did the one thing that I’ve always wanted to do. I-I know she’s your daughter and you’re probably want to kill me right now…”

Aang gulped and slowly turned to look back at him in the eye. “B-but I love her. I really do.”

Hakoda laughed, and Aang was bamboozled. When Hakoda finally stopped laughing, he pat Aang’s back gently. “I’m not going to kill you, Aang. For all I know, you’re the best future son-in-law a father could have.”

“I-thank you. Ehm, sir.” Aang rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks changed a little shade of pink.

“So, you kissed her. What’s wrong?”

Aang sighed. “We haven’t talked about it yet. I don’t know if it was just me, but I feel like she’s avoiding me since then. Every time she was alone, I was training with Zuko, and when there was finally a time, she got called to do something else. It’s like the force of the world deliberately doesn’t want me to get closure. I’m afraid she doesn’t feel the same way.” He hung his head, a sign of defeat. He didn’t know what else to do.

Despite the sad looking Avatar beside him, Hakoda smiled. He could see how Aang cared so much about his daughter. He felt grateful. He knew that Katara was in the right hands.

“Listen, Aang.” Aang looked up at him. “I may not be around my daughter these days, but I know one thing for sure. She cared about you too. I can see it, everybody can see it. The way she looks at you, the way she acts every time you even remotely get injured, how the way she talks to you, it was evident she felt the same way.”

Hakoda smiled. “Maybe, she just needs more time. You just have to believe.”

Aang finally smiled and nodded. They talked some more, about plans to defeat the Fire Nation and sometimes Hakoda asked questions about what was it like before the war. Aang happily answered all of them, the memories about air nomads and Monk Gyatso felt bittersweet to him. Hakoda seemed genuinely interested in them, and for the first time for a long time after Monk Gyatso was gone, he felt like he had a father again.

Not long Hakoda excused himself and went to bed. Aang was alone again and thought about what Hakoda said.

_More time, huh? I hope he’s right._

With a sigh, Aang got up and went back to his sleeping bag. Unbeknownst to him, Katara was awake when her father was missing from his sleeping bag and followed him quietly. She had the advantage of sneaking because Aang’s feet were dangling on the edge rather than on the ground. She heard everything. When her father retreated, she quickly went back and pretend to sleep to not raised suspicions. Rolling over, she looked towards Aang where he was already fast asleep. Tired with all the worry.

She felt guilty. She became too focused on guarding her heart, afraid if she said something now and with the possibility of Aang might not coming back, she didn’t think she can live with that. She was selfish. She didn’t realize how she made Aang worry so much about her.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, the only words she could offer to say before sleep engulfed her too.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to comment on what you think (although I'm asking you to be gentle). Thank you!


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